Snow caster deflector cap locking device

ABSTRACT

A snow caster deflector cap locking device for positively locking a snow deflector cap, in selected pivot positions, to a snow outlet duct surmounted by the cap. A spring lever mounted on one side of the cap carries a lock pin that extends through a slot in the cap for selective engagement in any one of several holes in the fixed duct to couple the cap to the fixed duct and thereby lock the cap in selected annular positions.

United Statesv Patent [191 Boeck [11] 3,828,450 1 Aug. 13, 1974 SNOW CASTER DEFLECTOR CAP LOCKING DEVICE [75] Inventor: David J. Boeck, Port Washington,

Wis,

[73] Assignee: FMC Corporation, San Jose, Calif.

[22] Filed: Dec. 7, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 313,085

[52] US. Cl. 37/43 R, 193/15, l6/145, 302/10 [51] Int. Cl E0lh 5/00 [58] Field of Search 37/43 R, 53, 41; 193/4, 193/16, 22, 23, 30, 15, 17; 302/9, 10, 37, 38, 59, 64; 16/145 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 877,304 1/1908 Dick 193/23 1,031,829 7/1912 Adams 1,132,412 3/1915 Weder et a1. 1,412,039 4/1922 Bowman 16/145 2a 7 v r P 7 fffffii: I

{l sLL 20 O 1,614,071 l/1927 Klohn 16/145 1,638,708 8/1927 Saxon 37/43 D 2,200,623 5/1940 James 37/43 E 2,587,586 3/1952 Bemardi 16/145 X 2,729,847 l/1956 Foster 16/145 3,251,631 5/1966 Hennen 103/22 X 3,580,351 5/1971 Mollen 37/43 E Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-E. H. Eickholt Attorney, Agent, or Firm--C. E. Tripp [57] ABSTRACT 1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures SNOW CASTER DEFLECTOR'CAP LOCKING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention provides a lock device for selectively and positively locking the snow deflector cap of a snow caster to the snow outlet duct to retain the cap in any of various angular positions and thus prevent upward pivoting of the cap due to snow hitting the cap during operation of the snow caster.

2. Description of the Prior Art A snow caster, is used to clear snow from snow covered ground by throwing it out of the casters path. In a typical snow caster, be it vehicle propelled or self propelled, rotating auger blades sweep snow off the ground and propel the snow upwardly through a snow outlet duct for discharge to the side of the caster. After the snow leaves the duct it can travel a considerable distance, say up to 30 feet, before landing on the ground.

There are times when the caster is operated within close range of areas such as walkways, driveways, etc., that have been cleared of snow or which are to be kept relatively clear of snow. At these times a pivoted snow deflector cap surmounting the duct is positioned at an angle to the duct such that snow leaving the duct will hit the cap and be deflected downward to land nearer to the caster than it would otherwise if it were not deflected by the cap. At other times the caster is operated in open areas far away from cleared sidewalks, driveways and the like and the cap is positioned at such an angle as to let snow leave the duct without being appreciably deflected by the cap.

The snow deflector cap is normally pivotally mounted on the fixed duct so that its angle can be quickly changed as desired. A deflector cap locking device is provided for holding the cap in a selected pivot position until such time as the cap angle is to be changed by unlocking the cap, pivoting the cap, and again locking the cap in a new angular position. The locking device of previous snow casters has invariably been a friction type retainer adapted to hold the cap in selected pivot positions. Wingnut fasteners used for this purpose include a wingnut threaded onto a screw to clamp the cap to the duct. The main drawback of a friction type locking device lies in the fact that, when the snow caster is in operation, the snow that is discharged from the duct hits the inner surface of the cap and is deflected thereby causing the cap to be slowly pivoted upwardly from the position set by the operator of the snow caster, with the result that snow leaving the snow caster will land on the ground further from the caster than is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the present invention the deflector cap of the snow caster is pivotally mounted on the fixed discharge duct which is provided with a plurality of spaced holes. A spring loaded pin carried by the cap is arranged to be selectively engaged in any one of the holes in the duct to lock the cap in a selected position.

The invention provides a locking device for selectively locking a snow caster deflector cap in desired pivot positions in a positive manner so that snow hitting the cap cannot pivot it from a selected cap pivot position.

It is an object of the invention to provide a snow caster wherein a snow deflector cap locking device utilizes a lever mounted lock pin for locking a snow deflector cap to a snow outlet duct so that the cap can be locked, in a positive way, in a selected pivot position and can also be quickly unlocked, pivoted, and relocked in a different pivot position by operating the lever.

The above and other objects of the present invention, as well as advantages and features of the invention, will be made more clear upon a review of the following discussion of an embodiment of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 'FIG. 1 is a perspective. of a self propelled hand steered snow caster incorporating the snow deflector duct and cap mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of part of the snow caster illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section view taken along lines 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the snow deflector cap, the upper end of the snow outlet duct, and the locking device shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 illustrates a self propelled, hand steered snow caster 10 provided with a deflector cap locking device 12 in accordance with the present invention. The .caster 10 is put into operation by starting its engine and steered by a person who walks behind it, steering it along a snow covered path by means of the handle bars 14. Although a self propelled, hand steered snow caster 10 is shown in FIG. 1 in order to better illustrate the present invention, it is to be understood that the invention is also useable in conjunction with vehiclepropelled snow casters.

With the caster 10 in operation, auger blades 16 rotate to remove snow from the casters path by impellin g the snow upwardly through a housing 17 into the lower end of an inclined snow outlet duct 18. The duct is mounted by means of a swivel unit 19 on a cover frame 20 so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis, by the operation of an actuating mechanism 22, to selectively point the upper end of the snow duct 18 toward the left or right of the snow caster.

The cover plate 20 has a round hole that receives the central portion of the swivel unit 19 which has an upper portion bolted to the snow outlet duct 18 and a lower portion carrying an integral gear 24. The peripheral gear teeth 26 mesh with the teeth of a gear (not shown) that is affixed to a drive shaft 27 which is journalled in bushings in a tubular support 28. A seal ring 29 surmounts the central portion of the swivel unit 19. Drive shaft 27 has a connector swivel block 30 that connects with a rod 32 (see FIG. 1) which can be hand turned to revolve shaft 27 and the gear coupled thereto to cause the gear 24 to rotate the swivel unit 19 and the duct 18 connected thereto. A guard wire 36, shown only in FIG. 2 has ends mounted in opposite sides of duct 18 to discourage people from inserting their hands into duct 18. A metal strap 38 is welded to a snow deflector cap 40 and can be used to pivot cap 40.

The upper end of duct 18 is surmounted by snow deflector cap 40 that is pivotally mounted on duct 18 by means of two cap screws 42 and locknuts 44 (FIG. 3). Each screw 42 fits through aligned mounting holes in the cap and in the duct, and has a locknut 44 threaded onto it to retain the cap on duct 18. Screws 42 are coaxially arranged to define a pivot axis A for cap 40.

In accordance with the invention, deflector cap locking device 12 is provided at one side of the cap and duct. Device 12 is comprised of a flat, spring lever 48 having a plastic coated handle end 48a and an end 48!; that is rotatably mounted on an unthreaded portion of one of the capscrews 42. Lever 48 carries a lock pin 50 mounted in a retainer hole and riveted in place. Lock pin 50 serves as a coupling means for coupling lever 48 to the cap 40 and the duct 18. The cap 40 has a flat, handle-receiving loop 52 (FIG. 4) stamped out of the cap. The lever 48 extends down the side of cap 40 passing through the loop which couples the lever 48 to the cap 40 so that when the lever 48 is pivoted about the screw 42, the cap 40 moves with the lever and pivots about the screw 42.

The lock pin 50 on the lever 48 is aligned with a round retaining hole 51 in cap 40. Pin 50 passes through such hole and extends into a lock hole 54 (FIG. 3) in the nearby side of duct 18. Referring to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the upper end of duct 18 has four round lock holes 54 each sized to accommodate the pin 50 therein. These locking holes 54 are spaced apart on an are centered about the screw 42 on which lever 48 is pivoted so that cap 40 can be pivoted, when unlocked, as desired to align the pin-receiving hole of cap 40 with any particular lock hole 54 of duct 18. Adjacent lock holes 54 are set 15 apart so that the cap can be locked in any of four pivot positions at 15 intervals.

Lever 48 is made of metal that is somewhat flexible in order that its handle end 48a can be pulled away from cap 40 to resiliently bend the lever 48, as indicated in FIG. 3, to remove the pin 50 from the particular lock hole 54 in which it is situated at any particular time. The pin 50 can be situated in any of the lock holes 54 to positively lock the cap to the duct at a selected cap angle.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has just been described. In this embodiment the lever mounted lock pin 50 remains within one of the ducts lock holes 54 to positively lock cap 40 to duct 18 until the lever handle end 48a is operated in the described manner. The lock pin 50 couples cap 40 to duct 18 and to lever 48 to releasably engage the locking device 12. Since lever 48 is pivoted on one of the screws 42 and is also coupled to cap 40 by loop 52, which precludes the possibility of excessive pivoting motion of lever 48 with respect to cap 40, the locking device 12 of the illustrated embodiment is extremely easy to inexpensive.

The relative simplicity of the described locking device embodiment is an apparent advantage. Although simply constructed and comprised of few parts, this device embodiment allows the cap angle to be easily changed, allows positive locking of the snow deflector cap and yet includes no loose parts that might be dropped in the snow sometime during the use of the snow caster.

It will be immediately apparent to those skilled in the mechanical arts and following the teachings of the present invention that other equivalent locking devices embodying the present invention can be devised and suboperate and is quite stituted for the particular locking device described herein. For instance, the tang 52 could be eliminated so that the lever 48 could pivot relative to the cap and the cap 40 could be provided with four pin retaining holes spaced along the cap, while the duct could be provided with only one lock hole for receiving the lever mounted pin. Other modifications are easily forseen.

Although the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention has been herein shown and described, it will be apparent that modification and variation may be made without departing from what is regarded to be the subject matter of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a snow caster having a snow deflector cap pivotally mounted on a snow outlet duct about a transverse axis, the combination of a spring lever carrying a lock pin, means pivotally attaching an end of said lever to the cap for pivotal movement about said axis relative to said outlet duct, said attachment means including a looped strap integral with and pressed outwardly from the adjacent side wall of said cap for increasing the resilient force of said lever and for holding said lever from pivotal movement relative to said snow deflector cap, a pin receiving hole in said cap for normally receiving the lock pin and disposed parallel to said axis, a plurality of lock holes parallel to said axis in said snow outlet duct spaced arcuately relative to said axis so that the cap can be pivoted about said axis to selectively align said lock pin with a selected one of said lock holes, said pin normally being resiliently urged through said pin receiving hole into a selected lock hole to lock the cap at a desired angle to said snow outlet duct, said lever having ahandle end that can be hand gripped and pulled away from the cap by resiliently flexing the lever and retract the lock pin from a selected lock hole to thereafter allow the cap to be pivoted about the outlet duct into different pivot positions and be locked in any such pivot position by releasing the lever handle at which time the resilient lever urges the pin into the lock hole aligned with said pin receiving hole. 

1. In a snow caster having a snow deflector cap pivotally mounted on a snow outlet duct about a transverse axis, the combination of a spring lever carrying a lock pin, means pivotalLy attaching an end of said lever to the cap for pivotal movement about said axis relative to said outlet duct, said attachment means including a looped strap integral with and pressed outwardly from the adjacent side wall of said cap for increasing the resilient force of said lever and for holding said lever from pivotal movement relative to said snow deflector cap, a pin receiving hole in said cap for normally receiving the lock pin and disposed parallel to said axis, a plurality of lock holes parallel to said axis in said snow outlet duct spaced arcuately relative to said axis so that the cap can be pivoted about said axis to selectively align said lock pin with a selected one of said lock holes, said pin normally being resiliently urged through said pin receiving hole into a selected lock hole to lock the cap at a desired angle to said snow outlet duct, said lever having a handle end that can be hand gripped and pulled away from the cap by resiliently flexing the lever and retract the lock pin from a selected lock hole to thereafter allow the cap to be pivoted about the outlet duct into different pivot positions and be locked in any such pivot position by releasing the lever handle at which time the resilient lever urges the pin into the lock hole aligned with said pin receiving hole. 